Movies Like Deasey (Desperate)

If you liked Deasey (Desperate) (1979), a movie directed by Rob Walker, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Philomena (2013)
★ 7.3/10
A woman searches for her adult son, who was taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.
2
Brooklyn (2015)
★ 7.3/10
In 1950s Ireland and New York, young Eilis Lacey has to choose between two men and two countries.
3
The Wonder (2022)
★ 6.6/10
Haunted by her past, a nurse travels from England to a remote Irish village in 1862 to investigate a young girl's supposedly miraculous fast.
4
Small Things Like These (2024)
★ 6.7/10
In 1985, while working as a coal merchant to support his family, Bill Furlong discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent and uncovers truths of his own; forcing him to confront his past and the complicit…
5
In the Name of the Father (1993)
★ 7.9/10
A small-time Belfast thief, Gerry Conlon, is wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing in London, along with his father and friends, and spends 15 years in prison fighting to prove his innocence.
6
Once (2007)
★ 7.4/10
A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring…
7
25th Hour (2002)
★ 7.3/10
On the eve of a seven-year prison sentence, a New York drug dealer spends his final day of freedom confronting his past, his relationships, and the choices that led to his downfall in a city still reeling from 9/11.
8
Nowhere Special (2020)
★ 7.3/10
John, a 35-year-old window cleaner, has dedicated his life to bringing up his 4-year-old son, Michael, after the child's mother left them soon after giving birth. When John is given only a few months left to live, he…
9
The Secret Scripture (2017)
★ 7.2/10
The hidden memoir of an elderly woman confined to a mental hospital reveals the history of her passionate yet tortured life, and of the religious and political upheavals in Ireland during the 1920s and 30s.
10
Finding You (2021)
★ 6.9/10
Finley, a talented aspiring violinist, meets Beckett, a famous young movie star, on the way to her college semester abroad program in a small coastal village in Ireland. An unexpected romance emerges as the heartthrob…
11
Sidelined: The QB and Me (2025)
★ 6.4/10
Dallas, a burdened but headstrong dancer, is determined to get into the best dance school in the country—her late mother’s alma mater. However, that dream is suddenly derailed when the cheeky yet secretly grieving…
12
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
★ 7.3/10
Harold Crick is a lonely IRS agent whose mundane existence is transformed when he hears a mysterious voice narrating his life.
13
In the Land of Saints and Sinners (2023)
★ 6.4/10
In a remote Irish village, a damaged Finbar is forced to fight for redemption after a lifetime of sins, but what price is he willing to pay? In the land of saints and sinners, some sins can't be buried.
14
Angela's Ashes (1999)
★ 7.3/10
An Irish Catholic family returns to 1930s Limerick after a child's death in America. The unemployed I.R.A. veteran father struggles with poverty, prejudice, and alcoholism as the family endures harsh slum conditions.
15
The Foreigner (2017)
★ 7/10
Quan is a humble London businessman whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fueled vendetta when the only person left for him to love – his teenage daughter – dies in an Irish Republican Army car bombing. His…
16
Shadow Dancer (2012)
★ 6/10
In 1990s Belfast, a woman is forced to betray all she believes in for the sake of her son.
17
Valley of the Dolls (1967)
★ 6.1/10
Lured by their dreams of fame and fortune, three ambitious young women enter the world of show business and discover how easy it is to sink into a celebrity nightmare of ego, alcohol and pills — the beloved "dolls."
18
Fight Club (1999)
★ 8.4/10
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an…
19
Adam & Paul (2004)
★ 6.9/10
Adam and Paul are two young junkies living in Dublin and perpetually on the lookout for their next fix. During their search, they encounter various unsavoury characters and make some futile attempts at petty theft. As…
20
Beautiful Boy (2018)
★ 7.6/10
After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.